


Neon Noir

by Zarigueya (orphan_account)



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Police, Blood and Violence, Crimes & Criminals, Dark Character, Explicit Sexual Content, Flashbacks, Gangs, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, References to Drugs, Revenge, neon noir
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-11
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-06-26 14:39:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19770322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Zarigueya
Summary: Vivid colors reflect on his blue eyes as he hunts across the streets, blood pulsing on his veins, so alive it hurts.So alive it hurts.





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> Made for the R76 reverse big Bang, thanks to [PetiteCreme ](https://twitter.com/gemsheldrake) for working with me, you can find their beautiful work [here](https://petitecreme.tumblr.com/post/186227344802/my-art-pieces-in-submission-for-the). 
> 
> I not only wrote this fic because of the art used on the bang but a lot of scenes in this story are inspired in this dark- colorful AU, I totally reccomend to check it all :)

He can’t remember the last time he saw the sun rise in that hell of a city. Soldier 76 mostly moves in the dark, wandering around dark alleys, bathed in the intoxicating neon lights that woke up that city at night. The taste of alcohol under his tongue, smell of cigarettes on clothing, blood stains on his old jacket. He carries a gun that is always loaded and a list that gets shorter every night that passes by. 

Vivid colors reflect on his blue eyes as he hunts across the streets, blood pulsing on his veins, so alive it hurts.

So alive it hurts. 

* * *

“Morrison” The chief calls, looming from his office, “My office, now.”

Jack tried to remembered what he did wrong, or if he did something wrong at all, but couldn’t come up with anything. “Yeah, chief?” he asks, spotting a familiar face in one of the chairs inside the office: Detective Reyes, one of the few men he hasn’t interacted at all during his relatively short time in the OWPD. Not like he didn’t try, but the man seemed to past him by everytime he tried to say ‘hi’.

“Sit down, Morrison, I got news for you.”

Gabriel gives him an uninterested look before looking back at the chief. 

“What you did with the brennon case was good, real good, Jack.” The chief says, “You've been solving cases successfully, you got a good eye and ear on the situations and the street.” 

“Thank you sir.” Jack takes a sit next to Gabriel, “Just' doing what I can.” 

“Well whatever luck you have the board is impressed with your track and are bumping you up to vice.”

“Wha-?” Jack’s blurt is quickly cut by his boss’ words. 

“And reyes here is going to mentor you” 

Calm until that moment, Gabriel comes to life with a displeased expression plastered on his face. “WHAT? I did not agree to this!” 

_“O-Oh shit”_ Jack is, however, too busy trying to remain calm. “ _... really?”_ It’s been only 6 months since he joined the PD by recommendation. He didn’t expect a promotion, less in so little time. He has done a great job though, he knows it, but still--

“Listen Reyes, you get shit done. But you're getting _this_ close to suspension.” the chief warns with an accusatory finger pointing at Gabriel; they spoke with such familiarity that Jack could tell the chief was fond to Gabriel, despite his tone. “You're being assigned a partner, end of discussion.” 

“I'm a goddamn detective not a _fucking_ babysitter.” Gabriel reminds him, “I don't have time to Mr. Miyagi cornfed here!” 

_“Wow, how old are you?”_ Jack mumbles, pursing his lips _“and what‘s with cornfed?”_ so Gabriel did know about him, enough to give him a nickname.

“Officer Morrison is a quick learner you won't even know he's there.” 

“But--!” 

“No, Gabriel!” The chief slams a hand over his desk, finally stopping the shouting inside his office. Silence fall over them and Gabriel finally quiets, pressing his lips together. “Look, we're all upset about Lacroix but we can't dwell on it.” he leans on his seat, rubbing his temples, visible tired of the discussion already. “This force is up to its neck in cases and with you two working together we can start making an effort and putting the trust back in the public.” 

To disband a criminal organization you needed to work with people; Jack understood that but he could tell Gabriel was against it. He couldn’t tell why, the Lacroix’s incident happened before he arrived and nobody would talk about it, specially with someone who just joined. But it seemed to be a painful memory, specially for Gabriel. The man looked solid like stone but the moment the chief said that name, Jack could tell something inside him broke.

“Fine!” Gabriel throws his arms up, giving up on complaining and lifting from his seat “But don't blame me if he fucks up and comes back crawling back for bunco!” he adds before storming out of the room. 

Jack quickly lifts from his seat as Gabriel crosses the door. “Thank you, sir, again.”

“He’s a good guy, Jack,” the chief adds once Jack reaches the door; he sighs loudly, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, “Just give him a chance. I promise you, it will be worth it.”

It’s not like Jack doubted it; but at the moment, he had no intention of finding it out.

However he does find Gabriel walking down the corridor and tries to start a conversation. “H-Hey, so…”

“See you on monday, blondie.” Gabriel cuts, pulling the hood over his head, showing no intention of continuing the conversation.

Jack stops his track and watches Gabriel disappear and going back at what --he heard-- he did the best: ghosting.

* * *

There is a pool of red blood under his feet, sticking to his boots, the color changing under the bright blue lights coming through the half open window. He kicks off the gun from the guy and looks around for any clue he could get to move to the next name. Talon soldiers were like ants, they left a trail behind, always looking out for each other. 

There is a woman in the bed, petrified, tears streaming down her cheeks. Soldier believes she is his lover, she looks like a lover.

Did he ever look like that?

_Did he?_

He considers putting a bullet between her eyes, not out of anger, but sympathy. He has been there, how many times he wished someone did that for him? Not to blame on the people around him, he never asked. An alarm goes off, bathing the room in red lights. Soldier catches the glimpse of a gun, the tip glistening as it’s pointed towards him by the weeping woman, her hands shaking as her frown deepens. 

Shades of red anger darkens her pretty face. “I--”

He shots first, of course, and the body goes limp and falls back on the mattress with a thud, staining the fabrics with red. _But you can’t tell if the whole room is red._

By the time reinforcement arrives he has already escaped the building, not leaving a single footprint behind. He hides in an industrial garbage bin as he hears the people running and screaming ‘someone has been shot’. The story of everyday. 

As he waits for the movement to stop, he ends up falling asleep right there in that cold bin full of old omnic’s parts, the ceaseless beeping of a broken one lulling him to sleep. 

Soldier thinks of _him_ before blacking out: his eyes, his lips, how the edges curved when he smiled.

They made a promise and Jack broke it.

He intends to fix it, no matter how long it takes.

No matter how painful.

* * *

It wouldn’t stop raining for a while, that’s what soldier could tell. That was an advantage though, it was problematic to move such a big load of merch with that weather. 

He recognizes the tattoo on the body at his feet: Deadlock. Soldier would like to say it’s been a while since he heard that name but he would be lying, that gang wouldn’t disappear so easily, specially with how pitiful was the work of the police since OWPD fell. The police didn’t even try to clean that place knowing it was Deadlock’s favorite route for drug trafficking. They archived all the cases against the few members they managed to catch and… let them go.

_We’ll never be able to clean this place._

Soldier still remember those worlds, and the tired face of the man who said them, the same man he used to wake up next to. _He_ did try; tried to fix things up, to clean up this place, this hell of a city. At the end, was it worth it? He lost everything, his friends, his family, his life. Gabriel Reyes was left to bleed out on the dirty floor of an old building, later set on fire. They barely could recover the body, barely got bones to bury. The box with his ashes felt so light and the pain that crushed him was so heavy.

“Where did I leave them?” Soldier wonders, trying to remember. It’s been years since he left Gabriel’s place and he can’t even remember where it was but he does remember the color of the walls. _Lilac_ . It wasn’t purple, it was lilac (‘ _everybody call it purple, can’t they tell the difference?_ ’) It was lilac because Gabriel liked lilac; and dark coffee with a shot of milk, and hard sex in the bathtub. Even if it was a small one and the one they got at Gabriel’s place was, indeed, a small one. It was always a mess of limbs but they made it work. They enjoyed it as much as in the bedroom, specially because of the acoustic ( _Harder! Harder!_ ). Gabriel got pot plants all around his place because there was a ridiculous lack of parks around the zone, and because he liked to talk to them, even sing a bit of those old records he got around his place. He got a small kitchen and large windows with the most romantic view of the city you could get for less than 2k the mont. And sometimes he liked to get fucked while enjoying the view, even when it implied it a bit of a risk of get caught. _(Doesn’t it turn you on? That someone might see what you’re doing to me?)_ He liked the illumination during the day for working and the lack of it when he turned off the lights and dragged Jack to the bed. He was good at making breakfast, and cooking in general, and at giving blowjobs (no gag reflex). He liked strong liquor of any type and cheap cigarettes he could get his hand on. He was ticklish and liked having his hair stroked or pulled when they had sex, that’s why he let his hair grown. He got a lovely singing voice but shouted like a bitch in heat when Jack took him from behind in the bathroom, or the living room, or the balcony. He got dark eyes and a skilled tongue that made Jack see stars, seven moles around his body that Jack liked to count before messing with him and a scar on his right side. Jack liked to stroke his side, the sensation of the scar under his fingers, secretly thankful for it, because it meant Gabriel survived.

Once.

_‘Meow.’_

Soldier blinks, his eyes dry after looking into the empty space for a while. He looks down and finds a black cat looking up at him with big yellowish eyes. 

At his 50s his memories are shady, there is a lot of things he can’t remember, specially anything that had nothing to do with Gabriel. 

Then he remembers, Gabriel also had a cat.

* * *

“You could learn a thing or two, pretty boy.” Gabriel lights up a cigarette as he leaves the interrogation room, where a visible embarrassed young punk they found on the streets stay stills. His superior blows a white plume of smoke, making Jack’s eye sting and his mouth run dry. 

Every time he saw Gabriel smoke he thought he might fancy one as well, even when he doesn’t even smoke. But that was Gabriel’s effect: he made him want things he thought he didn’t want.

“And that would be?” Jack asks, just for the sake of Gabriel talking and watch the smoke come out of his lips. 

Gabriel moves his eyebrows suggestively, making Jack shift his eyes away, his face warm.

“A good offer works better than a right hook.” 

“He asked for it.” Jack grunts remembering when they first found the kid; he’s never seen someone put so much resistance, no someone that young. How old was he? around eighteen? The guy went nuts, trying to fight them right there with his bare hands, no backup or guns involved. He also told Gabriel to ‘blow him’ if he wanted some information with a smirk on his face. Yes, he was probably high on some new drug and not on his five senses and yes, maybe Jack shouldn’t have punched a brat. But the fact that Gabriel _laughed_ at what the kid said instead of getting angry rubbed him in the wrong way. He should have been angry, not finding funny his words. 

“Sure, so you punched him, great job, boy scout.” Gabriel rolls his eyes, giving the cigarette to his partner. “I’m gonna ask Angie to look after the kid while I do some paperwork to keep him out of jail as we finish the investigation.”

“What?” Jack narrows his eyes, “so that’s what you offered him? To save his criminal ass?”

“Of course, that’s the only way I could get the name of his distributor and a fucking clue. What did you expect? the kid to give away a name for free? He is smart.” Gabriel pinched one of Jack’s cheeks, making his face heat up even harder. “He is too young and still got a chance to fix the mess of life he got into, or someone got him into. And I’m not gonna throw him away in a dirty cell.”

“There aren’t cells in a reformatory.” Jack mutters.

“Due the law he will be sent to prison, not to a reformatory. He is not only consuming but _selling_ , they will judge him as an adult. You know the law, Jack, come on.” Gabriel sends a text to Angela before retrieving his cigarette. “I thought you would be softer.”

“And you looked tougher.” Jack confesses, tilting his head to the side. “But here you are, agreeing to ‘babysit’ someone, mister detective.”

A smile pulls from Gabriel’s lips. Not the cute one, but the one that warned that an insult was coming. 

“Well, I got used to it by having you as a partner for over a couple of months.” he shoves a fist on Jack’s shoulder. “Come with me, we’re hitting my place after this.” 

Jack doesn’t even talk back and silently follows him.

He catches up easily, a quick learner as the chief pointed out, being able to keep up with Gabriel’s erratic rhythm of work. The man was a workaholic. Even when they didn’t pay him enough, as he constantly complained. After finding a new body and more prove of that unusual drug on the circuit, they begin to gather as much as information a possible of who the distribuitor could be. Thanks to Jesse Mccree, a.k.a. the brat Gabriel decided to save from prison, they could track the murderer of the victim found a couple of weeks ago. Someone who belonged to the same gang Jesse did: Deadlock. Pulling off the kid from the streets was relatively easy and Gabriel seemed to be proud about his good actions. Jack? Not so much since he didn’t like the brat.

They spend all the day around the city, interrogating as much people as possible, being that Gabriel’s strong point. He could easily get information being as _charming_ as he was. He got that voice that just made Jack’s knees tremble. He prayed for Gabriel to never notice that. 

They arrive late to the office, maybe too late, which leads to Gabriel bringing Jack along with him to his place so they could keep working. And of course, it takes longer than expected and more nights than he could spend awake.

The first night he would wake up due the cold, trembling as a leaf after the temperature dropped, but lately Gabriel has begun to throw a blanket at him before going to his room and locking himself up, as if not wanting to admit he did worry about Jack’s health.

And when Jack found out about it, he couldn’t help to smile.

He did look tougher.

* * *

_“Meow.”_

When Jack crack his eyes open, the first thing he sees are a couple of yellowish eyes. He flinches, making the cat jump and run away. 

“Wha--?” he looks around, realizing he did fall asleep on Gabriel’s couch… again. He sits on the couch and rubs his eyes, then looking around, finding the feline sitting over the counter in the kitchen. 

“Oh, hi there, buddy.” Jack approaches the animal and outstretches a hand, trying to pet him. “What’s your name?” The black feline moves, dodging his hand and walking along the counter, keeping his distance from him but still studying Jack with his big eyes from a safe distance. 

A snorts comes from behind him. Jack looks over his shoulder, finding Gabriel looking at him from the hall.

“Good morning, Gabriel.” 

“You still here?” Gabriel asks, walking towards the kitchen, scratching the back of his head. Jack rolls his eyes. Disheveled hair and in pajamas he almost looks softer, but that tongue was still sharp as a knife. 

A dangerous mix.

“Sorry, I was about to leave but I wanted to say thanks at least.” he looks at the cat again, noticing it perks up at the sound of Gabriel’s voice. The animal switched from shy to a very excited one when Gabriel smiles at it. “I didn’t know you had a cat” _Or that you liked animals at all..._

“The little shit likes to disappear. Also he doesn’t like strangers so he probably avoided showing his face when you were around.” he turns off the kettle and pulls a empty cup from the shelves. “But he must be hungry and tired of waiting for you to leave so...”

“Okay, okay, I’ll leave now.” Jack stretches his hands over his head, muscles sores after a night in the sofa. “It’s my day off anyway. Been a while since I got the weekend free.”

“Go home and get some sleep then, we have been working non stop lately.”

_“Because you insist in working overtime and force me to stay.”_ Jack wants to say but bites his tongue, “Gonna take a break as well?” the fleeting idea of treating Gabriel to lunch seems tempting; it would be a way to interact with him outside work and develop a more healthy relationship. And maybe, maybe he would stop treating him as a kid. A win-win situation.

“Of course not, boy scout.” Gabriel yawns, he still looks sleepy. “I’m gonna hit the downtown and see if these rats left some bread crumbs behind.”

Jack blinks slowly, frown deepening. “Are you gonna... work on your free day?

“It’s up to me what I do with my free time, Jack.” Gabriel serves himself a cup of coffee, “Might as well do something useful with my free time. It’s not like I got other plans to be honest.” he takes a sip, tasting the coffee on his mouth. “Anyway, I’ll let you know tomorrow if I find something new.”

“You won’t have to because I’m going with you.”

“What?” Gabriel puts down his cup as the cat sniffs the air. “You don’t have to do it. You just said you’re tired. Seriously, just take your day off and I’ll update you tomorrow.”

“I know I don’t have to but I want to go with you.” Jack insists, drumming his fingers on the counter, “I mean, I’m your partner. We need to work together, remember?”

Gabriel grunts and pinches the bridge of his nose, “I won’t get rid of you, right?”

A smile pulls from Jack’s lips. “If you’re going, I’m going with you.”

The cat meows loudly, trying to rub his head against Gabriel’s hand. Gabriel chuckles and scratches under his chin, making the animal purr. “Okay then.” he then points the table, “Let’s take breakfast first.” 

Jack helps putting the table, which is obvious Gabriel hasn’t done in a while. He came off as someone lonely who would enjoy eating with no company. Gabriel pulls eggs and bacon from the fridge, quickly making something to eat for them. He then serves another cup of coffee for Jack and sits in front of him.

“What’s his name by the way?” Jack asks as he studies the little creature while it eats from his bowl.

“Noir.” Gabriel starks.

Jack arches his eyebrows. “Is it french?”

“Yes.”

“What does it mean?”

“I don’t know.” The knife cuts through the soft yolk, making an acute song when it hits the plate, like if Gabriel putted too much pressure. “I didn’t name it.”

Jack frowns at the answer.

He slowly comes to realize he doesn’t like french.

* * *

The days felt short in winter as the sky darkens earlier. They spend the few hours of light tracking the subject (still oblivious to the cops following him) determined to find evidence to make a case against him. No matter how sure they were of his links with Talon, without evidence they would let him go easily and they could come back to bite them in the ass. Gabriel knew that, much more experienced than Jack, who blindly trusted in the system.

“This is stupid, we could be at McPachi’s right now-”

The clacking of the lens shut him up; Jack bites the inside of his cheek as Gabriel huffs. 

“How about you just keep recording and I’ll focus on finding our mark? We’ve only been here three hours.” Gabriel adjust the camera, trying to get the best shots, clear enough for any prosecutor to work with them without giving excuses. They would use any excuse to ignore evidence that put powerful people out in jail. Rather having a big fat check than a gun pointed towards them, right? 

Jack slouches lower into the seat, wishing Gabriel could close the window but that would make his shots look blur. “ _Only_ three hours? we could’ve been eating burgers and having a warm cup of coffee instead of freezing our nuts off.” he side-eyes Gabriel, who chuckles as he tries to focus again on the subject. “Come on, I’m pretty sure we got enough stuff to lock that guy up. You filled an entire memory card, this is the second one.” 

“How about this, boy scout” Gabriel stops and turns to him, putting his most serious expression “You let me get a couple more shots and I’ll treat you to a kids meal, deal?”

“Fuck you, Reyes.” Jack looks away, feeling his face heat up ad Gabriel goes back to his thing.

Warm laugher and the lens clacks once again.

By the time they are done and finally leave the area, they find out McPachi’s closed. The colorful lights of the restaurant are off, just like Jack’s mood. He was really, really hungry.

Standing in front of the restaurant, Jack gives Gabriel a heavy look.

“No burgers now I guess.”

Gabriel struggle with the laugh but can do little to hide it, snorts and turns on his soles. “You’re such a kid.” he laughs again, “You really wanted a burger, didn’t you?”

“I can live without one, don’t worry.” he fumes, shoving his cold hands on his pockets. “I’ll go home then since we are obviously done by now. I got a cup of noodles waiting for me in the refrigerator.”

“No, no, it’s fine.”Gabriel grabs his arms and pulls, “I promised you a burger and you’re getting one.” he adds, dragging him back into the car. 

“Where are we going?” Jack asks, putting on the seatbelt.

“My place,” Gabriel turns on his car. “I’ll make dinner.”

Jack eyes go wide open. “You’re cooking? For me?”

“For _us_.” Gabriel fixes, rolling his eyes, “And yeah, ‘us’ includes you. I promised you a burger and I always fulfill my promises.”

* * *

Having his superior making home-made burgers at 1:00 am is one of the most surreal things that Jack could imagine. In fact, being back at Gabriel’s place even when they didn’t have work to do was surreal to begin with. The guy was reserved, barely talking about himself, less letting people into his life. At least that was the impression he gave him, even when Ana and Reinhardt --other coworkers-- pointed how kind Gabriel was once you got to know him. 

Was he on his way to getting to know him? Having Gabriel cooking for him was a positive signal? Were they getting closer?

Jack snaps out of his trance when the smell of meat burgers hit him. He sniffs the air and hums in pleasure, just imagining how good those will taste.

“Hungry already?” Gabriel tease, throwing a glance over his shoulder. 

“It’s 1:00 am, I’m starving.”

“Almost ready.” Gabriel says, flipping the burgers. “Give me another minute.”

Jack rests his chin on the palm of his hand, watching Gabriel move in front of the kitchen; the sight was terribly domestic, almost familiar, that it made his stomach flip.

“You’re a natural.” Jack mouths, so low Gabriel doesn’t hear him.

He puts the burgers between spongy buns of bread; adds lettuce and tomato before serving them on a couple of plates and bringing them to the table, were an impatient Jack waited for them.

“Uh, I don’t have mayo, hope that’s okay--.” Jack snaps one of the burgers and gives it a big bite, humming in pleasure once he tasted the juicy meat. He closes his eyes, spell bounded by its flavor, making Gabriel laugh.

“You look rapt.” Gabriel rests his cheek on the back of his hand, “Over a simple burger.” 

“ _So_ good.” he mumbles, cleaning his mouth with the back of his hand, “Seriously, it’s so good.”

“I know, you don’t have to say it twice.” Gabriel rubs his nape, looking at him eating. “Happy now, boy scout?”

Jack swallows and licks his lips, looking up at Gabriel with playful eyes.

“Very much.”

Gabriel takes a sit in front of him and watches him eat in silent, “You’re a cheap date.” he says, making Jack laugh with him as well. He doesn’t notice it though, but the word date made Jack’s stomach flip.

If you eat with someone past midnight, it was a date, right?

After finishing his burger --and kind of finishing Gabriel’s as well, as he spent more time watching him eat than eating himself-- Jack thanks Gabriel for the food and casually mentions he should leave already.

“You’re leaving this late?” Gabriel points the clock hanging in the closest wall and just then Jack realizes how late is and… that he missed the last train home. 

“Oh, jeez.” he scratches the back of his head, “I’ll... have to call a cab, I guess?” he pulls off his phone, looking through his apps, ready to call one despite how expensive it would be.

Gabriel gives him a tired look, as if he couldn’t believe how dense that man was.

“You can sleep in the sofa, idiot.” Gabriel offers, “I’ll bring you a blanket so you don’t freeze your ass.” he looks around and then leaves the living room, looking for them.

Jack stays still, slowly processing what Gabriel just told him; he has never spend more than one night at his place, being this officially the longest Gabriel has endure being with him. “Uh, thanks.”

“Don’t even mention it.” Gabriel throws him a pillow and a blanket. “But I want you out tomorrow morning, you need to go home and take a bath.” he mockes, a smile pulling from his lips; he turns on his soles and heads back to his room. “You stink.”

Jack wrinkle his nose and slowly lifts an arm, sniffing himself. “...yeah.”

Dropping back on the comfortable leather sofa, Jack covers with the blanket and rests his head on the pillow. He closes his eyes and hear a familiar ‘meow’.

“You again?”

Noir is in the center table, looking at him with curious eyes from a safe distance, probably confused by his presence. He could tell Gabriel was used to be alone, and so the cat. Having a stranger wandering must be something new.

“I’m sorry, bud, I promise to leave tomorrow.” he whispers, closing his eyes, “I don’t think he will let me stay forever, though I don’t mind the idea but… well, you get me.”

The cat tilts his head and stares at Jack as he quickly falls asleep. 

* * *

The truck is probably carrying around fifty packs of merch hidden in wooden boxes. Soldier isn’t sure but that’s what he assumes due its capacity. There are guards around the perimeter, making sure no one gets too close and keeping away curious eyes. It wasn’t necessary though, people wouldn’t come close knowing who were they and everybody recognized Talon’s uniforms.

People did too little to change the situation.

Not trying to blame on civilians but he clearly remembers the public standing up for justice just when it was convenient but turning their back on OWPD. Thankfully, he wasn’t there for them, neither in the name of OWPD. He wasn’t even there for himself. 

_Gabriel_. Everything was for Gabriel. He would go to the moon and back for him. He would burn the whole city to its foundations to make them pay. 

And it didn’t even matter that Gabriel would be against it.

He wasn’t around anymore.

The gun feels light when he lifts it, a practiced movement as he sprints near one of the pillars inside the facilities. He takes down the ones away from the truck, the other agents barely notice it. He pulls out a device from his pocket and press a bottom, then throwing it under the track from a safe distance. It makes a whistling sound, barely audible for anyone but him --a good ear even after so many years-- before exploding, blowing the truck, the merch inside and the few guards near it.

The alarm goes off almost immediately, the doors quickly closing as he skids under the closest one. Once he is outside he quickly takes down the first guards approaching, hitting them with his rifle, making the less noise possible. Gunfire would bring more people around and he didn’t need that. He drags one of the bodies behind an old car and takes off his clothes, exchanging them with the unconscious guard. He sneaks around the agents, no one noticing his gun was larger than the rest, and the soldier manages to escape the area without breaking a sweat. It was easier now that he didn’t care about anything.

* * *

* * *


	2. II

“Jack!”

Blondie, pretty boy, boy scout… the times where Gabriel actually addressed him by his name were rare. 

Through tears he barely can tell apart Gabriel’s expression, contorted in fear, as if he has been the one getting shot. But he wasn’t. Jack pressed a hand against his own side, where the blood poured, dampening his clothes.

That was good, that meant the bullet didn’t hit Gabriel.

“Stay with me!” Gabriel says, holding him on his arms, his voice sounding muffled as Jack slowly loses consciousness. “Jack!”

_Stay with me!_

* * *

“There isn’t enough alcohol in the city to drown yourself.”

Soldier would laugh at the joke if it were funny, but he sticks to drinking leisurely and ignore the bartender’s unsuccessful attempts to flirt with him. He is at one of the filthiest bars in the city, famous for its strong drinks and illegal business happening backstage. By the corner of his eye he spots people in bizarre clothes, obviously high on something, moving under the neon lights as sweat drips from their bodies.

“Want me to fill your glass?”

There is someone who approaches him when he is drinking every goddamn time he is at that place. He wonders what’s wrong with them, if they do not notice the scars on his face or his gray hair. Maybe standards changed and youngsters are into people who look like him. Most of the times he brushes them off, others he is tired and horny enough to allow someone to fill his glass and later push him against the nearest wall to mess up with his body as much as they want. 

So he could feel something, anything.

Maybe someone’s hands would notice the bullet scars and ask, giving him another excuse to say Gabriel’s name aloud. And if they were kind enough, they wouldn’t mind when he called Gabriel’s name.

* * *

The pain hits him hard when he wakes up, as if its body suddenly remembered he got shot. Jack takes a sharp breath through his teeth and tries to move, finding it even harder because of the IV connected to his arm. Jack wonders if they are actually giving him something for the pain or not.

“ _Goddamn_.” Jack is about to pull that thing off his arm when he realizes he isn’t alone. 

Asleep on a chair, beard untrimmed and a shirt stained with dirt, Gabriel looks like he hasn’t hit the shower in days. He got his arms crossed and head hanging to the side in a position that looks at least uncomfortable, if not painful.

“He wouldn’t leave your side.”

Jack perks up at the sound of a familiar voice.

“Ana?”

A woman with a long hair crosses the door, holding a fluffy blanket on her arms. Ana, Jack’s coworker and Gabriel’s friend for longer they can remember.

“You’re awake, I’m glad. Welcome to the world of living.”

“Thanks…”

Jack observes Ana walk straight to Gabriel and gently cover him with the blanket. “How are you feeling, Jack?”

“As if I got shot.”

The woman rolls her eyes, giving him a tired look. “You did, dumb-dumb.”

A smile pulls from Jack’s lips, “How long I’ve been--?”

“A couple of days so far but they told us you were out of danger so we just waited for you to wake up.” Ana pulls a lock of hair behind her ear, “But Gabriel wouldn’t trust the doctors when they told him you would be okay.” she shrugs and reaches the bed, sitting at the end. “I guess he never got over Gerard and thought… well… that you wouldn’t make it.”

“Gerard.” His eyes look for Gabriel, finding him still asleep on the chair. That’s a name he has heard in the past, several times, but never from him. He knew he was Gabriel’s previous partner, and that he passed away after a mission. After losing Gerard, Gabriel became unstable, started to have problems with all his partners, saying no one was good enough for him. Deep inside, Jack knew it was a taboo to bring the topic up, least make direct questions, especially by the way Gabriel’s expression changed when someone else mentioned it. 

And for someone who kept pushing everybody away, he couldn't image just what kind of person that man was. Someone who was definitely not Jack and that hurt.

Ana suggest he keeps sleeping though Jack insists on staying awake to thank Gabriel for visiting him. However, the meds doesn’t take too long to kick in and he falls asleep again. The next time he wakes up, Gabriel is gone.

* * *

The discharge from the hospital doesn’t take too long after the doctors see the improvement on his condition. They send him home and suggest he takes a time off from work, but the first thing Jack wants to do is to see Gabriel. 

To thank him at least.

And to get rid of the bittersweet taste on his mouth when he woke up to an empty room.

Everybody at the station can’t believe their eyes when they see him crossing the door, as a phantom who came back from death. Later he would realize it was because Gabriel’s partners got a reputation of never coming back for any reason, either for quitting or something happening to them.

He finds Reyes on his desk, nose buried on papers, hands jittery as he went through a pile of reports. Ana told him he had busied himself to stop worrying about him. Such a Reyes thing.

Jack is unable to keep the smile off his face when he spots him, familiar to that view of Gabriel’s back. “You know, for being the best detective here you’re really sloppy with your paperwork without me.”

Gabriel’s shoulders tense and he looks over, meeting Jack’s eyes.

“Jack?!”

“Hey, I’m back--!” Jack shuts and tenses up when Gabriel throws his arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug, squeezing maybe more than he should with his peers around, watching at them. “Gabriel?”

“Don’t you fucking do that ever again,” Gabriel growled into Jack’s neck, not loosening his grip. “ _Ever_ , you hear me? Or I swear I’ll choke you with my bare hands!”

Jack feels his face heat up but he manages to answer without allowing his voice to tremble. “I know,” he wheezes out “But I don’t regret what I did, just so you know.”

Gabriel squeezes tighter, letting out a soft “stupid rookie” on Jack’s ear, ignoring Jack’s pained expression as he is still a bit sore. However, he can’t bring himself to let go, and neither Jack to push him away.

That was the first time that man actually hugged him.

* * *

Jack get backs to work without his boss telling him to, eager to move on with their investigation, even when Gabriel complains about the short amount of time he has taken to heal.

“Come on man, take a break.” Jack suggests.

“ _I_ should take a break? You’re the one who got shot. You take a break.” Gabriel grunts, brow furrowed, hitting the tip of his pen against the paper. The smell of coffee manages to catch his attention and he turns to Jack, who offers him a cup. “Thank you, I was dying for some coffee.”

“Found anything?”

“Not really, I hope I can get to the bottom of this before the chief calls with--”

The sound of Gabriel’s phone cuts him in the middle of the sentence. “Yes, boss?” he purses his lips as he speaks on the phone, “Okay, I’ll take care of it.”

“What did he say?” Jack asks, watching Gabriel pick up his stuff.

“He wants me to investigate an altercation at the end of the fifth avenue. Apparently they found another body.”

“Oh, bad news, huh? Well, I’m coming with you.”

“Jack, you don’t have to.” he insists but that doesn’t stop Jack. It has never stopped him.

* * *

“I don’t know why you didn’t take the extra time off, you should be resting.”

“And leave you on your own? Nah.” Jack gets comfortable on the passenger seat. “I can’t live without you.”

“I’m serious you idiot.” 

He feels a headache coming. “Wow, you’re welcome.” Gabriel has been a total ass during the whole afternoon, constantly reminding him he shouldn’t be there. Even when they were in the crime scene, he seemed to ignore all of his actions and attempts to help.

“What? You think I can’t do some small job without you babysitting me?”

“What? No!” Jack rolls his eyes, “I didn’t want you to get stuck in your head.”

“So I’m unstable, is that what you’re saying?”

“No! Fucking hell Gabe!” Jack pinches the bridge of his nose, “This job is my life! The whole squad is like family! And maybe you actually fucking mean something to me more than a fucking paycheck, maybe I care about you, maybe-” The memories of Gabriel holding his body as tears streamed down his cheeks hits him hard enough to make his teeth clench. “Forget it, you know what? Fuck you.” he takes advantage of the red lights and kicks the door open.

“The hell are you doing?” Gabriel watches him get off the car, “Jack!”

“I’m leaving you alone like you want!” Jack shuts at him before closing the door behind him.

“What the fuck-” Reyes takes a sharp breath and then sighs heavily. He quickly gets off the car as well to follow Jack. “Jack!”

“Fuck you, reyes!” 

“Jack, please listen, I’m sorry!” Gabriel tries again, grabbing his arm and stopping him. “I’m really sorry I didn’t mean to offend you!”

“Really? You haven’t insulted me enough?” Jack growls at him, the rain leaving him totally drenched, “Go on, say it! Say I’m just a boy scout doing my salary!” Gabriel looks down and away, embarrassed by the stuff he definitely said a while ago when they first started working together, and that Jack ended up hearing. “I’m sorry I tried to be your friend!” 

“Jack--”

“You piss me off something fierce, Gabriel! But we are partners! We look out for each other!” he gets closer, his eyes fixing Gabriel on his place. “Do you not care about me at all?” the words come out from his mouth eve before he can think thoroughly about what he wants to convey. “And you know what? I’m sorry I’m not Gerard!”

“What? That’s not what--” Gabriel runs a hand over his face, “I do care about you, It’s just…” Gabriel closes his eyes, clenched fists trembling as he speaks. “I’m scared of you dying, Jack…” he looks up at him for a moment, and then back to his feet, “I like you, and I’m terrified of you doing your job and getting killed for just doing the right thing!”

“But that’s what you’re here for! You’re my partner!” Jack grabs Gabriel’s face, forcing him to look at his eyes. “You stupid moron! You think I’m not careful for watching your back?” he then proceeds to smack his head, making Gabriel let out an ‘ouch’ and cover his head. “Fucking asshole!” “Stop thinking the world is against you!”

“Alright! Shit!” Gabriel allows Jack to smack him as much as he wants until he gets tired and then walks back to his car.

“God, for being a jughead you’re buying me dinner--” he opens the door and gets in. “And doing my dry-cleaning in apology!”

“Okay… Partner.” Gabriel mouths, following back Jack to the vehicle.

* * *

It’s a fancy restaurant with food whose name he can barely pronounce. French, he believes, because of the waiter’s accent. They had a corner to themselves while other patrons chatted and laughed behind them.

Gabriel moves with grace, as if he has experienced eating in those kind of places.

“You look uncomfortable.” he points, lifting the bottle of whiskey and filling his cup. 

“Maybe I am.” Jack rests his cheek on his hand. “And you, you look natural in this kind of place.”

“I used to come with Gerard here.” Gabriel says casually, lighting up a cigarette. The mention of Gerard’s name, as usual, makes Jack grimace and this time he is unable to hide it. “What’s with that face?” This time, Gabriel dares to ask, then snorts. “Oh, right, you’re jealous of him.” 

Jaw hanging, Jack’s face lights up like a christmas tree. “I’m not--” he covers his mouth and looks away. “I mean-- maybe, but like, professional jealousy.” he shakes his hands in front of Gabriel. “Not the other type.”

“...what other type?” Gabriel asks, looking genuinely curious.

“Well, I mean…” Jack makes a vague gesture, rolling his eyes. “Your... relationship with him.”

Silence settles over the table as Gabriel slowly grasps Jack’s implication. “...you thought I was… into Gerard?” 

Ears burning red, Jack shifts his eyes away and jerks his head.

Bursting out of laughter, Gabriel manages to make Jack blush even harder. He slams a hand on his thighs as the laugh yields.

“Okay,” he takes a breath, finally managing to control his laughter. “First of all, the man was married. Lovely wife, she is french too. A total hottie if you ask me, I’ll show you a picture later.” he thumbs away the tears in the corner of his eyes. “In second place… no, I wasn’t into Gerard. He was just a friend.” 

“Seriously?” Jack puffs his cheeks. “I mean, by the way you act when someone mentioned him.” he shrugs, then rubs his own arms, hugging himself. “You… were mourning. All the time.”

A sad smile pulls from Gabriel’s lips as he looks into his cup. “He was my _only_ friend for so long, of course I spent all the time mourning. And honestly? It still hurts.” the smile fades away as his furrow deepens. “I failed him.”

“You didn’t fall him.”

“Of course I did.” Gabriel cut, sounding so sure it makes Jack bite the inside of his cheek. “I failed him, I failed Amelie. I don’t wanna fail you. That’s why I need you to take care of yourself and stop pushing yourself to the edge.” 

There are hundreds of things Jack would like to tell Gabriel, anything that could comfort him. But somehow everything sounds shallow when it comes out from his mouth. Specially because of how he felt about Gerard. He was jealous, and even now he still is. And it felt wrong just to say things he didn’t feel.

Jack takes his fork and finishes the last of his plate, wanting to change the topic. “This tastes good.”

“It’s better with some alcohol.” Gabriel points his cup. “Aren’t you going to drink?”

“I’m not really into whiskey.” Jack was never a whiskey man and finds hard to take give it a try. “More of a bourbon.”

Gabriel laughs, “I bet that’s because you drink the shitty kind.” he pushes the cup towards Jack, encouraging him to taste it. At first reluctant to give it a try, Jack ends up doing it just to please Gabriel. This one was woody, dark, oaky. It went well with the meal and settled in his stomach pleasantly.

“It’s good.”

They each enjoy the other’s company in silence, wading in the content of a good meal, warm whiskey and soft vapours. After a couple of cups, Jack finally feels more relaxed, enough to joke around with Gabriel about his shitty french when he read the menu. 

At some point, Gabriel’s knee brushes against his. Jack could only chuckle softly, rubbing the back of his head, cigarette tip smouldering gently. His eyes meet Gabriel’s, and for a moment, he sees himself reflected on them. But not the way you look at yourself on the mirror, but through water, or vape.

“Wanna go home?”

Jack nods slowly, barely mouthing a ‘sure’.

* * *

When they arrive Gabriel’s place, Jack drops himself on the big leather sofa, his favorite spot. He got used to sleep there once in a while when Gabriel asked him to work overtime, barely offering a dinner as a reward. 

Gabriel walks around his place, taking off his coat, turning off the lights.

“Are you tired?” he says, fixing the blinds, the thin lines of lights that came through them disappearing, the room sinking into pitch black darkness.

“I guess.” Blood pulses hot under his skin when Gabriel moves closer, the lack of light turning him into a figure bathed in shadows. It’s not like he can clearly see him but feel it. “Gabe?”

“What?”

He blinks slowly, “I can’t really see you like this.” 

Gabriel chuckles, kneeling on the sofa before throwing a leg over Jack’s hips to straddle him. Only like that, Jack is able to tell apart his face. “Can you see me now?”

Eyes burning, Jack swallows past the lump on his throat.

“Yeah.” he speaks with a thin voice.

The edges of his lips curve up, heavy eyelids giving him a sleepy face. “Good.”

Despite his intoxicated state, Jack can tell what is happening and what definitely is going to happen. He has been daydreaming about it for so long, too long maybe. When they were working, or in the car on their way to some crime scene. 

“I thought…” he starts, voice barely audible as Gabriel was close enough to hear a whisper. “You weren’t into men.”

“I said I wasn’t into Gerard.” Gabriel reminds him, holding Jack’s chin with a hand, “Not that I wasn’t into men.”

Jack has enough time to stop the kiss and of course he doesn’t. He stays still, as still as he is able to with Gabriel pressing his lips against his, moving his mouth slowly, rolling his hips. He stays still, thinking this is only a dream and if he dares to move, Gabriel would vanish into thin air and go back to the dark comfortable corner of his mind where he has been dwelling. 

How long has he wanted this? More than he could remember, he probably wanted it before he realized he wanted it. He has wanted to fuck him a lot of times. He wanted to push him against the desk and give it to him. He wanted Gabriel to scream his name as he came undone on his arms. He imagined how it would feel to fuck that nasty mouth, or to spank that delicious ass. Jack used to stroke himself thinking of Gabriel’s tight pants that let too little to imagination, and used to wake up to a night erection every time he dreamed with him. 

It was like being a teenager again. Jack had no idea he could be that horny, he wasn’t like that in the past (as far as he can remember). He had his decent amount of girlfriends, or tried to. But it never felt good, not for real. But now, now he was completely re-discovering how much he could really feel.

Gabriel constantly teased him, as if he knew, as if he could tell. Was it the way he looked at Gabriel? Was he too obvious? He did his best to hide it, to avoid compromising his work. It has been a privilege being Gabriel’s partner and the last thing he wanted was to fuck up everything they have been building up together. He respected that man aside from desire him. 

Once Gabriel pulls apart, a question is thrown in the air: 

“Why are you crying?”

Lifting a trembling hand, Jack touches his own face, realizing Gabriel was right. 

“I don--t” he babbles, his tongue tingling as he speaks, “I don’t want it like this.”

Gabriel looks at him with eyes as dark as the universe. “You don’t want me?”

“No!” he cries out, his face contorting in anguish. “I want you! I really do, but--” he rubs a hand over his face, “I don’t want to have you like this-- Drunk,” he sniffs, unable to keep a straight face anymore, “I don’t want you to-- regret this. I don’t want only a night, I--” 

“ _You_?” Gabriel mimics, shamelessly watching Jack’s lips move. A real teaser.

“--want you to be with me.”

The wording was sloppy, verging on sheepish. First time in years he has tried whiskey (once that didn’t taste like dirty water) and now he had his crush grinding on his crotch, trying to shove his tongue down his throat.

Maybe he should be happy but he isn’t.

Jack doesn’t want only a night with Gabriel and isn’t willing to risk everything over some horny impulse. He can’t imagine how painful would be to go to bed with Gabriel and wake up to an empty bed once he realized what they did. And if he regret it? That would broke his heart for real.

“I’ll be with you then.”

“Eh?” Jack blinks repeatedly, trying to clear up his eyes. Gabriel is still there, straddling his hips, hands tracing imaginary patterns on his chest, eyes fixed on him. “Are you-- serious?”

“I’m not _that_ drunk, I know what I’m saying.” he hissed, pressing another kiss on Jack’s mouth. Whiskey has never tasted so good. “I’ll be yours. So, can we fuck now?”

Tears cloud his vision for the second time in the night, the view coaxing a sincere laugh from Gabriel.

“Didn’t know you were this emotional.” 

Jack didn’t know either.

* * *

“Are you leaving?”

The man whose name he can’t remembers tries to reach his arm when he leaves the bed to pick up his pants. Soldier purposely moves faster to avoid his touch.

“Yeah.” Soldier simply says. The other man snorts, and lies back on the bed, watching Soldier move across the room, hands behind his head as he enjoyed the view.

“That was nice.” he purrs, his voice soothing as he speaks. Soldier realizes that's the reason he went with him: his tone reminded him of Gabriel. “You aren’t giving me your number, right?”

“No.” Soldier finishes putting on his shoes before walking towards the door. “Thanks for the drink anyway.”

After all those years, he hasn’t being able to stay in the same bed with anyone. He still “enjoyed” mindlessness sex but despised the caresses that came after it. They tried to touch him in ways Gabriel did and he swore he could hear him, his sardonic laughter buzzing on his ears. And when his eyes looked everywhere but the person trusting between his legs, he almost could see him in the corner of the room, staring at him with those deep eyes that drove him crazy.

_“_ _Unfaithful_ _.”_

And he couldn’t shake off the sensation that Gabriel didn’t like what he saw.

* * *

The end of the world would come before his drink, that’s all Jesse could tell about the service in that goddam club. _Paraiso_ was a hot place but the goddamn omnics took their sweet time serving him a drink because of the amount of people there.

But that’s the only place where he could have fun instead of fearing to be beheaded. He was well-known in the area for his work and most of people were thankful for his services. A bounty hunter of this calibre could get a free drink and company for the night just over the fact of being alive, specially with how the gangs around the city were tearing down places like these. 

He spots a man in the bar, minding his own business, not showing any interest on the dancers or even on his half empty cup. As the friendly fella Jesse was, he decides is his job to welcome him to “Paradise”.

“Haven’t see you aroun’ before,” he starts, leaning against the bar, “You new here?”

“Kind of.”

It’s a nice voice, deep and rich, and the first thing that comes to his mind is how good it would sound muffled against his pillow or moaning his name. His eyes trail the profile of the stranger, noticing he is older than he expected and got scars on his face.

And he has always got a thing for older man, specially the ones that looked like someone beated the shit out of them.

_You like danger a bit too much, kid._ Reyes used to say. _I relate though._

“So there was this huge traffic collision a couple hours ago.” he starts, casual, barely speaking over the music, “Some madman decided to take down a deadlock caravan, blew up an oil truck an' took out a whole squad with me getting knocked out before tha' first shot fired.” he lifts up his shirt and shows a bandage over his side where he got burned. “Hell of a day I'd say. Makes a man grateful he's still alive. Gives him th' balls to grab th' bull, you know what I'm saying?”

“You think surviving something like that makes you feel alive?” the stranger cuts, the words almost being spit of his mouth. “You think playing the bounty hunter and catching your prey gets your ricks off?” 

Jesse turns into him, just then meeting the deep blue of his eyes, the cold of winter, so familiar it makes him go weak at the knees.

“Boy you just fell right into the vipers nest. You're _mine_.”

His pulse ricochets as he realizes he actually knows that voice. 

"The question is: do I kill you know? Or do I play with me food first?"

* * *

He is dragged to the bathroom and pushed against one of the stalls. 

“You think I went easy on you? You're not even worth my time.” The man grabs the neck of his shirt, pulling him closer. “The cops are just as corrupt as the gangs you hunt. What are you really trying to pull here?”

The red lighting of the bathrooms makes it hard at first, but when he is brought closer, Jesse can finally recognize him.

“I… I know who you are.” Jesse babbles, feeling his insides churns. The memory of his first day as vice kicks in, along with the memory of a cake and a song. Reyes, his mentor, giving him a warm hug as cold blue eyes looked at him fondly for the first time. “Jack…” he calls, tasting the name on his tongue. Reyes’ partner, _husband_ , and the man he used to long since his first days in the squad. “Jack Morrison, I want-” 

“No. I'm not who you think I am.” Soldier cuts again, pressing his knee against his crotch, coaxing a moan from those nasty lips. “You're high. What are you on?” 

Jesse blushes, his whole body trembling as if he were a child who got caught stealing candies. Jack has always made him feel like that, as if he did something bad and he should be punished. He used to get off imagining Jack giving him that look and of course Jack had no idea, or anyone. Maybe Reyes, Reyes made clear he knew he got a crush on him and didn’t seem to bother, as if he knew Jack only got eyes for him. 

“I just--” 

“You probably won't remember any of this, what I'm about to do to you.” Soldier presses harder against him, making Jesse’s legs tremble. “So, why does it matter?” he asks against his mouth before sinking his teeth on Jesse’s bottom lip.

* * *

“You fucked him, right?”

Gabriel lifts his face from the papers on his desk, meeting Jesse Mccree’s earthy eyes.

“Excuse me?”

Jesse walks away from the door and drops himself on a chair in front of Gabriel’s desk, crossing his arms and giving him a heavy look. They are on Gabriel’s office, one of the few places were the lights are still on. Gabriel was always that cop that stayed over time, even when nobody asked him too. “Jack Morrison.”

Gabriel’s brows shoot up to his forehead. He doesn’t look surprised or worried about getting caught up. “Uh, how do you know?”

“He looks stupidly _happy_.” Jesse teases, loling his head to the side, “And he looks at you when you aren’t looking.”

“Isn’t that the usual?” Gabriel teases, going back to his work. He has always know he had fans and wasn’t humble about it. And of course Jack was included in those fans.

“More than usual,” Jesse rolls his eyes, “he is too obvious is annoying. Before at least he mind if you caught him but he became shameless.” Everyone could tell Jack got a crush on Gabriel, it was a open secret. Jesse never thought the man would spare a glance on Jack, as apparently he hated him at the beginning. That was his only hope to get Jack and now, if what he thought was true, it was gone. 

The damn man probably looked back at Jack and that was all it took to get him wrapped around Gabriel’s finger.

Gabriel laughs, resting his cheek on the palm of his hand. “Sorry kid, but you took too long.”

“ _Heh_ , it’s not like I got a real chance.” he shoves his hands on his pockets, spreading his legs. “I know my place.”

“Your place?”

“He hated me from day one.” Jesse spits, looking up at the ceiling. He frowns, wondering why they never care to big it a coat of paint. That building was falling apart with the new budget cuts that came from the mayor. “he punched me in the face, remember?”

“It’s been years since that, he doesn’t hate you… not anymore.” Gabriel opens a drawer and pulls up a camera. “Have you forgotten the party we throw for you when you got accepted into the squad? Jack helped with the cake.”

“What part?”

“The frosting.” Gabriel looks through the photos and then smiles; he turns the camera around and shows Jesse a photo of Jack decorating the cake they gave to Jesse.

“Hmm.” he licks his lips, remembering the flavor. That was a nice cake and a nice party, and probably the first and only time Jack offered a genuinely smile to him. “It was tasty.”

“The cake?”

“The frosting.” Jesse sighs heavily, stretching his hands over his face, “I was going to tell him that day, you know? but I chickened--”

“We got married.”

“Oh my God-- Are you serious?!” Jesse rubs his hands against his face, coaxing a laugh from Gabriel. That was it. “How long have you been--?”

“It’s been a couple of months, kid.” Gabriel puts the camera back into the drawer, “And we have been fucking longer.” he goes back to his work. “You haven’t realized because you were in the academy busy with homework, which is good. I wouldn’t have wanted Jack to distract you.”

“Does anybody else knows?”

“Rein, Ana--” he counts with his fingers. “Half of the squad I guess. Jack wanted to tell everyone, though.”

Jesse blinks slowly, realizing how much he has been missing due his preparation. “I had no chance then.”

“Don’t tell me you solely became one of us to try to get in Jack’s pants.” Gabriel points at him with his pen. “Because that would be extremely sad, you are pretty good at your job and we are proud of you.”

“Of course not, I--” Jesse clicks his tongue, scratching the back of his head. “I’m thankful for everything, you pulled me out of the streets and got me cleaned.”

“You’re welcome.”

“And I wanted to do something, to be like…” blood rushes to his cheeks and he runs a hand over his face. “I admire, both of you.”

A smile pulls from Gabriel’s lips, a genuine one. “I’m flattered.”

“And I also wanted to get into Jack’s pants.” he adds at the end, making Gabriel laugh a second time. 

“I’m sorry you couldn’t do it, kid.” Gabriel studies his own nails, “You might try now but I’ll let you know I’m not into threesomes and Jack either is. Oh, and he is the loyal type, he would never cheat on me.” Gabriel hums, “And he is completely crazy about me if you haven’t realized.”

“Ugh, from all the men I could have fallen for, I had to do it over some cop.” Jesse complains, pinching the bridge of his nose. “And an honest one. I bet a corrupted one wouldn’t mind sleeping with me. I’ve been told I’m pretty good, do ya’ know? I know how to use my tongue and I can make them sing.”

Gabriel shakes his head, not bothered by Jesse’s words. Jesse knew he could say anything to that man and that he wouldn’t judge him, just as he wouldn’t judge Gabriel. They understood each other and accepted each other’s flaws. 

He was a rock, his solid fundations on that place, on the new life he was starting. 

In that moment, with the brand knew shiny badge on his chest, he couldn’t tell that everything would fall apart, with Gabriel in the middle of it.

* * *

_I've been waiting all day for you._

For split of a moment, he could hear _him_ : Gabriel’s playful voice when he welcomed into his arms during their honeymoon. His naked figure bathed in moonlight, so inviting, the shapes he knew so well. Their first fuck as husbands. Their promise in broken voices: _I want you forever._

“I just…” Jesse, the one who broke that moment, dares to speak again, “I've always wanted to--” 

“Shut it.” Soldier cuts, turning him around and pushing him against one of the doors. He sinks his nose on the curvature of his neck and bites down, sucking hard on his neck.

_Jack... you feel--_

“--so good!... fuck” 

“Shut it!” he orders, spanking his ass as Jesse pushes his hips back, heavy breathing. 

_Jack, Jack…_

“You want to get fucked by a madman in a bathroom?” his hand winds into his pants, finding the throbbing erection Jesse got for him. “Are you even thinking straight?”

“P-please put it in me…” Jesse begs, his voice high, body trembling as he tries to meet Jack’s trusts. “Jack--”

“Really?” his grabs it over the damp fabric, “is that what you want?” 

_“Jack,”_ Gabriel’s voice was as needy as Jesse’s, calling his name again and again as he pushed his hips back, _God Jackie…”_

"Haa... please anything--" Jesse cuts again, begging louder. “Please!”

"Not here." Soldier pulls from his hair and licks his nape, making Jesse choke on his spit.

"M-My place then! It's close!!"

* * *

_Why are you letting him do this to you?_

Soldier can’t even remember how they got there, with Jesse high, trying to strip him while they took a cab, whispering into his ear all the thing he wanted to do to him, and the things he wanted Soldier to do to him. When they entered the room Jesse got immediately on his knees, as if he knew what Soldier wanted. He took it on his mouth, almost choking on his cock when Soldier gripped his hair and pushed him down.

_You don't deserve this._

Stopping just to take a breath through his nose, Jesse moves his head up and down in a relaxed but practiced motion. He left Soldier slip from his mouth just enough to lick the glands, pressing his tongue against the tiny hole on the tip. Hand around the base, he licked the head covered in precum, then across the veined length. 

_Look at him. He's totally out of his headspace on that drug. High as a kite._

Not wanting to come out of a blowjob, he pushed Jesse’s head away.

"You don't touch me, understand?" he explains, pulling Jesse into the bed and him down the mattress, pressing his hands over his head.

"Y-Yes sir." 

_You just want closeness. You just want to feel something. Anything._

A quick preparation, lube and two fingers, Soldier sits on his cock with a fast motion, and starts to move before Jesse can catch his breath. His fingers twitch, probably wanting to help, to mark a pace. But it’s not about him.

_It has never been about not him._

Soldier doesn’t allow Jesse to come and lets him slip from his puckered hole before pulling from his arm.

“Turn around.”

“W-what?” Confused but obedient, Jesse does as he is told, getting on his knees, pressing his face against the pillow. “Jack?”

He spits on his hand and shoves a couple of fingers inside. Jesse curses under his breath, the penetration painful at the beginning. He then grabs the lube and bathes his own cock in a thick shiny coat that makes it glow under the lights. 

_It'll never feel the same. You miss him._

Jesse moans like a bitch in heat, so different to Gabriel, so needy it makes him want to vomit. But he keeps going, wanting to see how much he could take for him.

_You just want him back._

He pulls from Jesse hair, longer than Gabriel, and keeps him still like that to trust into his honeyed deeps. Sweaty bodies bathed in the purple lights coming from the window, Soldier fucks Jesse into unconsciousness, until he become voiceless. He pulls out before coming, splattering on his ass as Jesse stains the sheets. 

_You're just sating your basic instincts you'll tell yourself. What are you doing?_

Sitting at the end of the bed, Soldier stares at the empty space, bringing his hands together. He grabs the cigarettes on Jesse’s table and lights up one.

_Why are you doing this? Don't forget what you're here for._

Erection limp between his legs, Soldier tries to remember how he got there, why is he there.

_You're getting distracted. Don't get attached. They'll get killed if they follow you._

Jesse turns around on his sleep, giving Soldier his back. He notices the perly trace dripping between his legs, realizes he pulled out too late and did came inside of him.

_Just like..._

He stands on his feet and grabs his clothes, leaving the room as fast as he can.

_No, don't think that... Don't sully his memory._

* * *

When McCree wakes up he was still unsure how he managed to get back from the club. The last thing he remembered was drinking tequila and taking one of those purple pills a friend offered to him, then, a stranger with blue eyes that reminded him of better times.

It was only when he sat up that the low burn in his hips confirmed that he did indeed have a little more fun than planned.

“Jack…” he can’t help the smile on his lips, barely able to put the memories together. He closes his eyes and tries as hard as he can to remember, wanting not to forget that night. The man he believed as death, the man he loved more than he thought he could: that man was alive. 

The salty flavor still lingering on his tongue manages to make him smile despite waking up to an empty bed. He didn’t expect more of him. 

He walks around an becomes freshly startle of how his place had been completely ransacked: The fridge open with missing food, drawers thrown open, furniture and wall panels overturned.

What he minded however, was his whole office destroyed. His wall full of clippings and ties torn down, ashes in a waste bin.

Files on cases stolen. Everything about that new drug, everything about the warehouse raid 6 years ago that ended with the death of his mentor, everything on all the gangs and their activities, everything about Jack Morrison…

_Boy you just fell right into the vipers nest._

“That mother FUCKER!” Jesse horsley screams, kicking the bin, ash puffing up. “God damn mother fucker played me like a damn fiddle!!”

Of course Jack knew everything, that’s why he appeared in the bar. He made Jesse take him to his place to gather all the information he has been picking up in the last years. Jack knew that if someone knew the streets, that was Jesse.

“You could have asked, motherfucker.” Jesse scrambles for a smoke, taking a deep inhale to calm his nerves, finding most of stash had been taken as well. “Shit…”

His mentor was always right, those blue eyes were dangerous…but he married that man regardless. Why did he fall for him? Such a schoolboy crush festered.

Jesse sinks himself down, observing his mess of a world. Thankfully, he still got all the information digitalized and perfectly safe. However, the last person he wanted to find about everything was Jack.

There were things he shouldn’t find out, for his own sanity.

He was in deep shit.

EVERYONE was going to be in deep shit.

* * *


	3. III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter.  
> Thanks for reading.

“Gabriel, no!” 

It would’ve been perfect with the months of research and days of planning to raid. Gabriel, as ever the genius tactician had come up with every variable option that would occur. Back-up plans for back-up plans.

Jack was sure his mind was a computer, crunching numbers and scenarios faster than he could recognise that the door locked behind them was from their _very own agent_ who had been with them the whole time.

Of course, 

A rat.

So obvious they overlooked it. So in their face their eyes crossed over and it blurred into everything else.

“Gabriel!”

The taste of blood on his mouth doesn’t stop him from screaming, shaking his whole body, trying to get rid of the limbs keeping him on his place. They have beaten the hell out of him for an hour, trying to get him to speak and he wouldn’t do it of course. Gabriel either, both of them knowing they couldn’t betray their squad. “Let him go! It's me you want!”

It was only when he saw a gun being pointed against Gabriel that he realized they were going to die. 

“We left those bodies as a warning, you _don’t_ mess with us.” The gun’s muzzle thrust against Reye’s temple. “Good job you kept this off the books, It’s just you two to deal with. Don’t worry, we’ll make sure they find your body in the river by morning.”

Jack screams something, anything to bargain more moments for Gabriel’s life. The hands and knees planting him hard rendering him useless to pull out his own weapon, fight back, _anything._

He could hear nothing but his own heartbeat as he locked eyes on his partner who told him it’d be alright. He saved that smile for when it was just them two.

“It's going to be ok, Jackie.”

When everything was safe.

A clean shot echoes on that dirty room, then there are flecks of blood across his face. It’s an instant, a fluttering moment; a before and an after: when Gabriel stopped existing, his world stopped spinning.

And then the lights turned off.

* * *

Soldier wakes up with the muffled sound of an ambulance coming from outside. Quickened breath, hands clenching on the sheets, he realizes it was all a dream.

A memory.

It was like a broken holovid that skipped and repeated the same minutes. 76 heard the world, still existing, outside.

_They_ were still existing.

He would make sure they _wouldn’t_.

* * *

“Are you clean, guapo?”

Soldier barely reacts at the familiar voice, the devil whisper, showing his cleans hands to the cameras on the corner of the entry.

“No guns.”

“I can see two fists though.”

Furrowed brow, Soldier clicks his tongue. “I’m not joking, Sombra, let me in.”

“Sure, sure.” a series of clicks and the doors opens for him. “Come in, I’ve been waiting you.”

The purple lights blind him but he does as he is told, stepping into the room, the doors closing behind him.

  
  


“What do you need?”

A woman drums her finger as Soldier approaches her desk, she got glasses and half of her head shaved, hair purple as her nails. 

The room was dark but enlightened enough with computers around the place, images of different places playing on each screen.

“Got information.”

“And you want some in exchange for that one?” she shows her hand, wiggling her fingers, unable to hide the excitement. “Okay, handle it.”

Soldier pulls a stack of papers from his jacket and throws them over the desk.

“That’s all I got from that bounty hunter you talked me about.”

“Ugh, couldn’t you get it digitized?” she purses her lips and picks up one of the papers by the corner, as if it were some bug she didn’t want to touch. “You guys are pigs.”

“You should be grateful I’m sharing this with you.” Solder sits on the desk, crossing his arms. “Thought all you care was information and I’m giving it to you.”

“It’s not for free, though.” she takes out her glasses and rests her chin over her crossed hands, fluttering her eyelashes “Aren’t you going to ask me for something?”

Soldier leaves the desk, then walks away from it. “I need a way in. I need to get inside Talon’s base.”

“Oh.” she tilts her head, fixing her glasses. “That is impossible for me, you know?”

“Nothing is impossible for you.”

“They’ll know you got that info from me, _rubio_.” Sombra taps a side from her head, “They aren’t stupid, they know what I do on my free time.” And she was right, all the members from the organization Soldier has met were either loyal enough to die before revealing any information or dumb enough to have no idea what was going on for real inside that place. He could beat the shit out of them for hours, torture them in the worst impossible ways and nobody would talk. That’s just how the organization keep itself safe: the loyalty of their members.

But sombra was different. She was loyal to no one and the only way she got into Talon was by providing information for the organization. Deep inside she feared they would get rid of her any minute.

“Then find a way to get me in.”

Eyelids heavy, sombra gives Soldier a tired look. “Aren’t you a bit impatient? What are you gonna do once you get in? Get killed?” 

“I’m gonna blow that whole place up.”

Sombra snorts, covering her mouth with a hand. “Is that your master plan?” she shakes her head. “You’ll need a huge amount of explosives, and time enough to strategically placing said explosives in the needed areas to make the biggest impact. It’s not one building, the place is _huge_.”

“I know.” Soldier shoves his hands on his pockets. “I’ve been planning it for a while.”

Half of the screens go dark as the woman press a key of the computer in front of her. The room gets darker, as half of her face.

“And are you going to do it all by yourself?”

“Exactly.” Soldier seems proud of finally being able to say it, to tell someone. He would finally get what he wanted, finally get his revenge. “I’ve been hunting most of the dealers and cutting every single possible way of transaction. They are helpless without the usual money income. It’s the perfect time to attack.”

“You’re going to get killed.”

“I don’t care.” he outstretches a hand, “I need you to get me in, Sombra.”

Her expression almost turns bitter as she gets closer to her screen again. “I kind of like you, you know?” she starts typing, the screens turning on again, each one of them showing part of a map. once you stepped back and looked at them, they showed a completely piece. “A new cargo is arriving to the east coast tomorrow night, someone important in the organization is going to scort that payload back to the base.” she gives him a tired look. “They won’t make a move in a while since they know you and the police have been hunting them. So this your only chance to get in. You just need to follow him back to the base.” she looks back to her screen, “How you get in is your problem, this is the only certain way to get in I can think about without compromising my life.”

76 turns on his soles and walks towards the door.

“Thank you.”

“ _Soldado_!”

He stops his tracks, with his hands on the door. He looks over his shoulder, meeting Sombra’s eyes.

“This won’t bring him back.” she states, a truth as clear as the sky. “No matter how many bad guys you kill no matter if you tear that whole organization down no matter how good you do in this messed up world: he isn’t coming back.”

Soldier looks at her for a moment before turning his back and opening the door.

“It’s not about bringing him back… is about meeting him.” 

* * *

He stays in the car longer than he should. Got time to spare, though, as the meeting hour was slowly approaching. The radio is on and he goes through the stations, expecting to find someone. Settles for an old one, the one that Gabriel liked.

A cigarette lingers on his fingers as he sees through the window, waiting for a signal to move. Dark shapes of ships move across the coast, but not the one he is waiting for. He got his jacket on, the blue and red one, a soldier ready to die on his uniform. 

_You’re really doing this._

“Yeah.” he sucks on his cigar and then blows a plume of white smoke that fills the car. “Sombra is right, this is the only certain and realistic way to get in.”

_You probably won’t make it alive._

“They can’t take anything else from me” he sighs loudly, “, not even my life.”

At his side, Gabriel looks away from him and back into the streets, watching the rain droplets slide down the windows. A song starts to play in the radio and then he looks back at soldier, excitement on his eyes.

“Jackie, our song…” his gaze lingers on him for a moment, before he looks away as well. “I miss you so much…”

As the song plays slowly, soldier comes to his senses, eyes stinging as he realizes he is alone in his car.

“I miss you too.”

* * *

The cold air hurts his lungs, but at that point, every single nook of his body aches.

Reaper steps out heavily from the ship, leaving black smoky footprint behind. Lifting a smoky hand, he presses on the clip of his ear.

“I arrived.”

_“Very well.”_ A soft voice answer, so different to his own. The woman’s voice always composed, cold despite how alluring that french accent used to sound. “The coast is clean, make sure to bring in the cargo within the next hours.”

“There is plenty time to do it.” Reaper says, looking up at the moon in the sky. 

They have made sure to get rid of any police activity that night, considering it would be the last one on a while. Sombra could easily cut the communication between patrols and made easier for talon agents to take down the ones near the harbor. The load was heavy enough to require a large truck to transport and they settle of one instead of dividing the cargo in different vehicles. It would be easier to look out for one instead of many.

The first half of the trip is made in a record time and it’s just when they are about 15 minutes away from the base that he realizes it: someone is following them. 

Reaper wonders if the police was capable to regroup in so little time or if there was some outsider stupid enough to try to get in the way. 

“Probably the second one.” It still catches him off guard though since everybody in the city knew no one should mess with Talon business. 

He steps out of the payload and allows the cargo to advance as he quickly sweeps the area, trying to find the shooter. It would be risky to stop the payload, that would make easier for the police to find them. The best thing he can do to complete his mission is making sure it arrives before someone tracks them down.

“Where are you?”

He inhale through his nostrils, the familiar smell of blood hanging on the air races his pulse, makes his stomach churn. 

There is something else in the air.

The first shoot lands on his side, making his body stumble. Breathless, he turns around, pulling off his guns to point at the man throwing against him. Reaper sees himself reflected on the visor covering the soldier’s face as he shoot before he reaches him, but it doesn’t stop him. The soldier hits him with his gun, as if he didn’t want to waste more bullets on him, or probably trying not to call the attention of the other agents. Reaper fights him like he wants it, a clean fist fight. Both of them are bleeding, reeking of sweat, breath quickened. Reaper manages to pull back to his feet and throw a finishing left hook and knocked down the soldier.

“Is that all you got?” he straddles his hips and pulls off the mask of his face…

...meeting the familiar blue of the sky in summer he used to dream about.

It freezes him on his spot, the cold eyes looking back at him; gritting his teeth, Jack looks ready to fight him back until his last breath but Reaper quickly stops any movement, grabbing his hands over his head.

“Stay. Still.”

Jack stops struggling but doesn’t look away, fierce eyes fixed on him. As if trying to scare him.

Head slightly tilted, reaper takes in the view of an older Jack, his old partner, old lover, the man he ended up marrying, reeking of blood and sweat. The man he thought death for so 

long after he died himself.

Memories of the beginning of everything assault him, like daggers thrown into his chest: the raid that went wrong, Jack’s desperate expression while calling his name, the shooting sound piercing his ears.

And then nothingness.

He can’t tell for how long he was unconscious, believing himself dead. By the time he opened his eyes, he didn’t feel quite himself. His muscles were sore, and in constant pain, light hurting his eyes as if he had never meet the sun. And smoke coming out from his body to the point he feared he would vanish into thin air.

He came back to life like a monster, in a world where they told him Jack didn’t exist anymore.

But they lied.

Of course they lied.

“You idiot.”

Still unable to recognize him, Jack gives him a confused look without losing his cool, baring his teeth. 

“The idiot that will put an end to your life.”

Leaning over him like the shadow of dead, Reaper whispers on Jack’s ear.

“I’d love to see you trying, Jack.”

When Reaper lets him go and pulls away, Jack’s face goes pale, as if it’s name was a curse.

“Who told--?!”

“You’re planning to strike the base, right?” Reaper questions, noticing the explosives Jack carries with him. He presses a clawed hand against his side, where he got shot. Not like the wound hurts but he would need treatment as soon as possible. “I’ll help you.”

“Why would you help me?” Jack slowly gets back on his feet, a painful expression on his face, probably feeling more pain than Reaper would ever feel. “You’re one of them.”

“Sombra isn’t the only double agent.” he trails down. “Well, she isn’t exactly a double agent, she never belonged to Talon.”

Jack blinks slowly, stunned but Reaper’s confession. He was ready to engage into a battle and not to have a deadly enemy offering a helping hand.

“How do I know you aren’t lying?”

“I could kill you right now and you know it.” he warns him, Jack’s expression remaining the same. “So stop making stupid questions and follow me.”

Jack peers up at him with the closest expression to a flustered face he can remember. And instead of finding the image reassuring, it becomes unbearable. He can’t face that Jack, the old one, the one he abandoned.

With Jack following his steps, Reaper gets back to the payload, helping him dress up as one of the agents. Jack warns him about his plan, about what he will done once he gets inside, and Reaper says nothing. He focus on his task of delivering the cargo, giving Jack enough time to work out his plan. 

Leaving the explosives in the main sources of energy is relatively easy and it takes Jack less than an hour to do it, specially when moving across the base with the directions Reaper gave with him and the Talon’s uniform he facilitated him. Jack didn’t question his help and asked Reaper to meet him once he was done, in one of the storages.

“I’m done, I’ll turn it on in around 15 minutes.”

“Good.” Reaper calculates the time it would take Jack to leave the base through an escape gate and attempts to give it the location, but Jack steps back. “What are you doing?”

“I won’t leave.”

“What?” Reaper steps closer, “What do you mean you won’t leave?”

“I need to be in the perimeter to activate it once the time is over.” Jack explains, pulling of a control remote, “I can’t turn it on from outside the base.”

Reaper fists his hands, “So you are gonna kill yourself?”

“I’m gonna do whatever it takes to shut down this place.” Jack puts it back inside his pocket, “but I want you to leave, since you helped me.”

“If I suddenly leave, they will notice something is off.” Reaper shrugs, “I do need to stay if you wanna make your plan work.” he explains.

Jack’s brows come together, “You choose to die to help me?” Jack clicks his tongue, looking away, “Do you want me to believe you are doing this for nothing?”

“I got my reasons to help you, and you got no right to question me.”

“I’m a bit curious about the person who is helping me.” Jack insists, attempting to follow Reaper as he walks away. “Since somehow you seem to know who I am.”

“Do you really wanna know?”

Jack stops walking, meeting Reaper’s eyes behind his mask.

“Yes.”

He takes a step closer to Jack, who doesn’t move an inch. Slowly rising a hand, he presses a hand against Jack’s neck, pulling him closer. 

“Close your eyes for a moment.” he whispers on his ear.

Pressing his lips together, Jack does as if he is told, more curious than cautious. Reaper studies his face, his trembling eyelids, the way he purses his lips. He runs a nail on his neck before sinking his claws, coaxing a moan from Jack.

“What the--?” Jack stumbles back, head spinning, eyelids heavy. “What did you--?”

“I will finish what you started.” Reaper catches him before he hits the floor, holding him on his arms. “But you have to live. I’ll get you out of this place--”

“No, no--” Jack goes pale, lifting a trembling hand, trying to touch his face. “I have to do it, I---”

“It's going to be ok, Jackie.” Reaper says, making Jack’s eyes sting; the way he said his name bringing back painful memories stained with blood.

A lie.

* * *

Sombra stops typing as she finishes reading the information Jack stole from Jesse. She slowly process the information, her expression dramatically changing as she linking the information she got herself along with the one Jesse gathered.

The failed raid, the closed coffin funeral, the lack of a body. Talon new scientist’s experiments, the brand new monster of frankenstein wearing a white skull mask.

“Oh no...”

She grabs her phone with trembling hands, typing a series of messages as fast as she can, wishing they reach before it’s too late.

_> Soldado, are you there?!_

_> Stop what you’re doin! _

_> Listen to me, don’t do it!_

_> Don’t blow up the base before it’s too late!_

_> He survived! That man!_

_> He is alive!_

_> Gabriel Reyes is alive!_

* * *

Jack wakes up to the beeping of a new message, but even before reading he is already on his feet.

Thanks to the enhancing program he went through, the poison didn’t knock him off for too long. So he wakes up and gets on his feet, dragging his feet towards the base. 

_It's going to be ok, Jackie._

Eyes stinging, Jack begins to sprint towards the gate, this time not attempting to hide his location as an alarm goes off. The guardians on the words leave their positions and Jack pales as he notices they aren’t looking for something outside but inside the base.

“No, no, no!” Fear starts creeping up inside him as he checks around and finds out that person took the device and got the control of the explosives.

_It's going to be ok, Jackie._

“Gabriel.” Jack’s breath quickens at the mention of his name and trembles at the lack of a response. No more voices on his head. His chest heaves as tears gather on his eyes. Somehome he finally comes to his senses and realizes his phone has been beeping the whole time.

_It's going to be ok, Jackie._

He crushes it between his hands as he finishes reading the string of messages Sombra sent him, before picking up his pace towards the base. As he still dressed up as a Talon agent, Jack easily gets in and finds out the fuss around the base. Agents running from one side to another, the alarm beeping on his ears and a robotic voice shouting on the speakers:

_“[INTRUDER, INTRUDER, INTRUDER]”_

They know someone is inside but don’t know who.

Luckily for him, the way towards the main bomb is closer and he reaches there before any of the other agents can even realize what is going, everyone too focused on trying to stop people to get out, oblivious to what is about to happen to that place.

The doors are unlocked and when he opens the last one, he finds him still there, standing in front of the explosive device, with big red numbers glowing in the dark. 

_4:59, 4:58, 4:57…_

Jack cleans up his face and takes a couple of shaky steps towards him, calling on a thin voice.

“Gabriel…?”

Shoulders hunched as he hears Jack’s voice, Gabriel takes off his mask and turns to him.

“You really had to get in, don't you? Don’t you have an idea of how hard was to get your ass out of here?

Jack fists his hands when he meet his hollow eyes, red sclera and dark irises. The scars on Gabriel’s place puts his own shame his own, cutting right through his handsome features, the face he once complimented turned into one he barely recognized due the damage. 

“I thought--” Jack tries to speak, choking with his own spit, struggling with the tears. “You were dead.”

“I am.” Gabriel whispers, turning back into the timer. “In less than two minutes, at least.” he tips the screen with a claw, then speaks again, turning his face over his shoulder. “You should get out already if you don’t want to end up like--.”

Words dies on his mouth when he feels Jack’s arms around him. He gasps when arms tighten around his waist, holding him closer into an intimate hug. “Jack--”

“Gabriel, Gabriel, Gabriel…” Jack calls in a trembling voice, breathing on his neck, arms refusing to let go. “Oh, Gabriel…” 

“You have to leave.” Gabriel urges, turning towards him, just to meet Jack’s lips. It’s a sloppy kiss, like a first timer. Jack evoke his name with each burning kiss, hands on his waist keeping him still. 

Gabriel has to push him away to stop the necking, feeling his skin burning and not due the pain.

“Jack, get out of here.” he groans, still stunned by Jack’s reaction. He expected a string of insults, a punch, anything but kisses. Or that familiar adoration on his eyes.

“Gabriel…” Jack holds his face and Gabriel has to put his hands away. “Gabriel…”

“Stop calling my name!” 

He only shuts up when Gabriel asks him to, his hands finally stop trying to reach out. He looks visible hurt but doesn’t attempt to disrespect his wishes. Jack has always been like that, so respectful it hurt. 

Gabriel throws a look at the timer, realizes how little time he got to do something.

“Ge out of here, now.” 

“No.” Jack mouths, piercing eyes fixed on him. “I’m not going anywhere.” he takes a step closer, respectfully keeping his hands off Gabriel but throwing himself into his personal space. As if he physically couldn't’ keep himself away. “I’m not gonna leave you for a second, ever again.”

“There won’t be an again in less than 4 minutes.” Gabriel points out the timer, “Just leave already, maybe you can get away enough to avoid getting yourself killed.”

Jack thrusts out his hand, “Gabriel, come with me.”

“No.” Gabriel spits.

“Please, Gabriel…” Jack grimaces, “Come with me.”

“No!” 

“Why?” 

“Stop acting like nothing happened in all these years!” Gabriel runs a hand over his face. “Have you looked at me? In what I have become?”

Silence falls over them, barely broken by the beeping of the timer, and just for a moment Jack seems to understand what Gabriel means to say. Though, it doesn’t seem as if he feels the same, not a trace of disgust on his face when he looks straight at Gabriel.

“I’ve been mourning your death for all these years.” Jack begins, a shy hand trying to reach Gabriel’s. “I haven’t forgotten you for a single moment. I’ve heard your voice everyday and saw you in my dreams every night. I don’t care what you have become. I’m not leaving your side ever again.” he brings it to his mouth, pressing his chapped lips against the palm covered in leather gloves. “If I have to stay and die here with you I’ll do it just to not leave your side. I can’t, Gabriel, I can’t leave you.”

Gabriel allows Jack to hold his hand and then bring it to his face. He holds his cheek and Jack noses his hand. He remembers that mannerism, the way Jack looked for his touch in an almost childish way, cravins his touch every minute.

“It’s too late already… there isn’t time for… anything.” Gabriel mouths, pushing his thumb against Jack’s bottom lip. 

“I know.” Jack answers, opening his arms to receive Gabriel as he finally gives in. He hugs him tightly, resting his chin on Gabriel’s shoulder. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “But I told you I wanted you forever."

Gabriel hugs him back so tight he almost hurts him with his clawed hands.

“Forever isn’t enough.”

* * *


	4. Epilogue

“This place is a real mess.”

Sombra rolls her eyes, going back to her computer while Jesse leisurely smokes a cigarette, filling the room with smoke.

“Could you turn that thing off? It’s giving me a headache.” she asks politely, pinching the bridge of her nose. 

“I told you we could meet in another place but you insisted on bringing me here.” Jesse puts it down anyway, just to not upset the woman. She did really look like someone about to have a headache. “And you still haven’t told me what the heck I’m doing in your little hideout.”

“I told you I can’t get out easily because they are tracking me.” Sombra explains, pointing out an old six months newspaper article she proudly hung out on a wall. Her picture is displayed with a sensationalist header. One could even laugh about it if they knew Sombra and Jesse did: she wouldn’t hurt a fly, she was just an insanely good hacker. “They are even making up charges to make the police catch me and then Talon would bail me out of jail just to burn me alive like the ‘treacherous witch’ I am.” Sombra rests her cheek on the palm of her hand. “Even when I saved their asses! The explosion would have turned the whole base into ashes!”

Jesse laughs at the irony: from Talon’s traitor to Talon’s savior and then back to Talon’s traitor. Despite being able to turn down around twelve explosive devices along Talon’s main base and stopping a huge explosion that could have taken down the lives of hundreds of agents, they ended up coming to the conclusion she has been the one who helped the perpetrator in the first place. 

“Yeah but you were the one who helped an intruder to get into the base on the first place.”

“It wasn’t me, technically.” Sombra shrugs, “It was Gabriel.”

The mention of his ex boss’s name brings less painful memories now every time he hears it. 

“Well, they are looking for him too.” Jesse drops himself on an old leather sofa, one he recognized as Gabriel’s. It makes sense since that place used to belong to him and Jack’s, that’s why Sombra picked it as a temporal hideout. Taking her as a mayor hacker, they wouldn’t even look for her there, assuming she would pick a more sophisticated place to hide and not the old apartment of an ex agent. However, it was just temporary, Sombra used to change of hideout constantly to avoid getting caught. “So, what did you want to tell me?”

“I’ve been doing my research and finally found the doctor who saved Gabriel’s life after they ‘killed him’. Her name is Moira O’Deorain.” she turns the laptop towards him, showing him the picture of a medical congress where a woman with orange hair leads the conversation. “She is currently in Ireland but used to work for Talon, or at least does randoms jobs for them in the name of science.” Sombra combs her hairs with her fingers. “Sounds like a wicked woman to me but who I am to talk?”

“So?”

“Jack and Gabriel disappear after the explosion and I assume they would hide and eventually come back to take down Talon. But knowing Jack like I do, he’ll probably try to help Gabriel and return him to his old self. So they definitely will hit her up.” Sombra studies her nails as Jesse lets out a soft “ _oh_.”

“That’s clever.” Jesse strokes his facial hair. “But is it even possible? According to what you told me, what they did to Reyes…” Jesse shakes his head, trying to forget about the pictures Sombra showed him from Gabriel’s medical record. All he knew was that the man was alive, but he never got access to the information Sombra could get by working for Talon. 

“Of course I’m not sure, that’s not my field of work. I’m just trying to help you to find those two.” she crosses her arms leisurely. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”

Jesse bites his bottom lip, feeling his face light up. “Yeah.”

It’s been six months since Gabriel and Jack met and he completely lost the track of them. He has been investigating Gabriel’s death for months and when he eventually came to the conclusion he wasn’t dead, Jack had to appear. “If I would have knew Jack was still alive I--”

“You would have told him about Gabriel.” Sombra completes, “I know, I believe you. But you didn’t know Jack was even alive and and Jack never bothered to ask. Which I understand because everybody thought Gabriel was death.”

“I wanted to contact Gabriel, you know?” he looks around the place, noticing their belongings are still around and sombra barely altered the place, respectful for what it meant to Jesse, Jack and Gabriel. “I wasn’t sure of what happened to him, I just knew he was alive but…”

“Maybe he would have even spare a look on you. He was determined to finish Talon from the inside. Because he thought Jack was the death one.” Sombra giggles, “I mean, I wasn’t even smart enough to tie up the loose ends. I knew Jack as looking for a personal revenge but I didn’t know his Gabriel and your Gabriel were the same person until I read all the stuff you gathered. “she scratches the back of her head, “And I’m the hacker here, shame on me.”

“Very nice of you to steal from me by the way.” Jesse clicks her tongue, “You almost gave me a heart attack. Do you have any idea of how long did I work to gather all that information? Those were years of work!

“Aw, come on. I saw the clips from that night at the bar.” A smile pulls from Sombra’s lips and she give him a nasty look. “You didn’t bother the way Jack coaxed you at all, right? I bet you had fun. He is handsome despite the years.”

Jesse pouts his lips as color rises to his cheek. He still can’t believe he actually hooked up with Jack. Almost like a dream come true except with the part of Jack stealing from him at the end and leaving without saying goodbye. “I hope he doesn’t tell Gabriel about it though.”

“What? That you fucked his husband?” Sombra whistles low, “Gabriel is so going to kill you when he finds out. By what you told me, those two are true couple of lovebirds.”

“Well, at least that would be a way to find them.” Jesse stands up and walks towards the nearest wall, where an old photo is hanging. In it they are celebrating Jesse’s promotion as an agent of VICE. “I hope they come back… someday at least. I know they must be wanting to get away from everything now they’re reunited but…” Jesse laughs, “I would like to say hi at least.”

A meow startles Jesse when he tries to speak again. He turns around and finds a black cat jumping to Sombra’s lap. 

“Did you miss me, _bonito_?” Sombra scratches the cat’s chin and it purrs satisfied. 

Jesse’s eyes go wide open.

“Noir?”

* * *

“ _Bonjour, blonde_.”

Jack snickers at that familiar french accent, too lazy and comfortable in the sheets to even open his eyes. He feels hands groping around, coaxing him into waking up. “Stop, I’m tired…”

“Yesterday you asked me to not stop.” Gabriel whispers on his ear, his hands dangerously going to the south, fingertips meeting the beginning of pubic hair.

Finally opening his eyes, Jack turns around to meet Gabriel’s lips. They kiss softly, as lovers after a honeymoon night (and it felt just like that).

“Because you were doing that with your tongue--” Jack teases, throwing his hand around Gabriel’s body, pressing against his lower back and then squeezing the flesh of his ass. Despite the years he still got that killing round butt he used to shamely stare at when they were younger.

It takes so much willpower to neglect Jack’s caresses but Gabriel manages to do it. He is fond to the idea of morning sex but he is starving. “Get up or I’m never doing it again.”

“Threaten me with tha? You’re the worst.”

Gabriel leaves the bed while Jack stretches his arms over his head. He looks through the window, just noticing how pretty the view is. The commune a little north of Cannes, the world’s capital of perfume, Grasse. Full of markets, a away from the noisy capital. The room they rented is small and tidy, with little furniture but the smell of perfume lingers on the air. It’s a cheap place and he isn’t surprised, they didn’t pay much attention to their surroundings and undressed each other the moment the doors closed. They just needed each other so much and for so long.

It has been several years since Gabriel allowed someone to touch him like that. He was even afraid of Jack seeing his bare body and feel disgusted. But he didn’t, he has been so gentle and loving the whole night with non stopping compliments about his curves and shapes, kissing every nook of his body and touching him in the right places. And God, did Jack know how to touch him and where to touch him because Gabriel could swear he saw stars light up that bedroom last night. Jack has always been a quick learner: their first night together has been sloopy, even comical with Jack trembling as a leaf the whole time. Gabriel used to joke around saying ‘he took Jack’s virginity’ because of the way he acted. Jack ended up confessing that has been his first time with a man and he had no idea what to do. Of course Gabriel was kind enough to teach him every trick and how to feel good and making him feel good. He got so much better in so little time (“because of the large amount of time they took to practice”) and he reached a point where he said “he wouldn’t be able to fuck anyone that wasn’t Gabriel”.

Hard to believe to be honest.

He could almost swear he slept with more people after he thought him ‘dead’. He could tell by the new things he learned, probably by another person. Gabriel look at himself on the mirror, the light of the morning bringing back his monstruos apparence. There was a reason he used a mask and it was because he refused to face in what thing he was turned into. Who would want him like that? Why would anyone want him like that? 

Probably just Jack.

“Want me to get breakfast?” Jack offers, reaching the bathroom to steal a kiss from Gabriel. He kisses him back before staring at him. Jack blinks several times, confused by the look he is giving him. “Is something wrong? You look upset.” he pouts his lips, “I’m sorry I took too long to get out of the bed.”

“I’m fine.” Gabriel smiles, patting Jack’s face. “I was just thinking.”

“In what?”

“In how much I want you to fuck me right now.”

Jack giggles, a cute dimple appearing on his face. The man was older but still got certain kind of charming on the childish mannerism he got. “Thought you were hungry.”

“Do it quickly then.” Gabriel urges, shoving a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “You can just use your tongue if you are too tired.”

Gently taking his hand, Jack pulls Gabriel back to the bed. They come together like last night, except this time light pours through the windows, bathing their naked figures. Jack takes in the view of Gabriel’s body, licks his lips, tells him how beautiful he thinks he is. Gabriel looks away, allows him to kiss him, touch him, trace his forms, squeeze the flesh. Jack turn him around and hums in pleasure, startling Gabriel when he smack his ass, coaxing a moan from his lips. 

He didn’t do that yesterday.

Of course yesterday had been quite different. 

They didn’t plan it at all. It has been around six months since they left that city, trying to get away as fast as they could. They got rid of the masks and clothes, dressed up as civils and took a train with no specific destination. they barely talk but kept holding hands, slowly coming to realize that it was okay to let go sometimes. They were together, again. 

Then came the questions, as if trying to know each other all over again. But there was still some kind of tension in the air. Understandable, since they both believe the other died. Jack struggled with the urge to touch him the way he did before, and stuck to stealing glances from him. Gabriel, of course, was no fool. He noticed those glances but struggled with looking at his own reflection. How could he allow the man he loved to look at what he has become? to look at his body? to reject him? He rather not being touched ever again by anyone. Jack was his last man and he would remain the last.

After a couple of months of hiding, they found out about Doctor Moira and they decided to look for her. For a hope to cure Gabriel. They tracked her down and found out she was at ireland. However, Jack insisted in stopping at France, and hide for a moment before continuing his travel. 

They arrived that commune at night, enjoying the peaceful streets, the opposite of what they were used to back at home. Jack rented a room, with money he stole --of course-- and they got in silence.

They always hit the bed when the night came, too tired to even exchange words. Jack usually stood up to watch over them, and sometimes Gabriel did. But this time they both decided to go to bed _together_. And for the first time in months, to actually rest.

Though they ended up not resting at all.

They lay next to each other, looking at each other in the semidarkness, breathing the same air as they were very, very close. Jack looked at gabriel’s lips and licked his own. 

It took only three worlds for Jack to start it: _“I can’t sleep_.”

So Gabriel kissed him, because he couldn’t sleep either. 

They kissed and then, Gabriel finally allowed Jack to undress him.

It really felt like the first time. Not like the first time they had sex with each other, but like the first time they had sex at all. They both had to get to know each other, what they like, how to make each other feel good.

It was worth it and Gabriel could openly say he enjoyed every minute of it. 

After finishing they stayed talking until Jack finally passed out. It took Gabriel longer to do it as he wanted to look at Jack’s sleeping face for a moment.

“Ah!”

Gabriel stiffens back to the present when Jack sinks his face between his asscheeks. He takes a sharp breath between his teeth when he feels his tongue. He pushes his up, helping jack go deeper, his tongue leisurely working him out. He shudders, almost chokes on his spit, “Jack…”, a series of high pitched sounds come from him. That was good, the way he rolled his tongue, shove it, pulled it out before shoving it again. Jack mimics the motion of penetration, making Gabriel rolls his hips back, trying to meet those imaginary trusts. Rimming has always been something Jack was good at. Even when at the beginning he swore he had no idea how to do it. 

“Jack!”

Jach hums, “Tell me.”

“Put it.” he pleads, feeling his face hot, burning as fire. “Now.”

“Yes, sir.” Jack teases, pulling away before reaching the table next to the bed. “I hope we still got rubbers.” they really didn’t think about having sex and they were very lucky they found condoms in that room before they arrived. 

“No need.” 

“Want me to go like this?” Jack presses a hand against Gabriel’s ass and kisses his back, “Sure? You now I cum a lot. I don’t mind filling you up but it may be bothersome later.” Jack clearly remembers Gabriel always asking him to always wear a condom when they were together.

“Put it already and don’t make me beg!” Gabriel urges, stroking himself, pressing his face against the pillow. “Please.”

“No need to ask twice.” Jack pinches his buttocks before pumping his own cock a couple of times; he grows quickly with just the view of Gabriel’s ass and pulls his left cheek, taking a look at the puckered ring of flesh waiting for him. “You’re still loose from last night, you know?” he shoves it in without any other preparation, “Because I took a lot of time working you out. But if it hurts let me know, okay?”

Gabriel grabs fistfuls of the sheets, trying to keep it together, light headed as he feels full.

“Gabe?”

“Move.” Gabriel mouths, “Move already.”

The first sharps trusts leave Gabriel breathless. Spit hangs from his bottom lip, trembling hands still trying to hold onto something. Muscles clenching, sweat damping his forehead, the sound of flesh hitting flesh. Jack switches the rhythm, slows down to kiss his back, traces his hips, squeezes his ass. He drops kisses on his back, leaving a trail of spit, before grabbing his arms and pull behind him, keeping him still as he quickens, pounding with short endless trusts that turn Gabriel into a living mess. His head hangs between his shoulders, tiny sounds coming from his parted lips.

“You like it?”

Gabriel doesn’t answer and Jack lets go his arms; Gabriel falls back into the bed and Jack pulls out for a moment just to turn his body around, part his knees and pulls him closer to his pounding cock. Out of instinct, Gabriel sticks out his hands towards Jack, wanting a hug.

“Come--” he breaths with watery eyes, “here.”

The edges of his lips curve up as he finds the view completely endearing. Gabriel has never been the needy type in bed. he liked it rough, hard, and the cuddles could come after. Jack shoves it in before closing the gap between them. Gabriel throws his arms around his neck, holding into him as he begins to trust into him harder than before. He howls, calls his name, asks him to give it all to him and Jack concedes. He is close, Gabriel squeezing him so hard.

“I’m--”

“Turn around.”

Obedient, Jack pulls out and lays down on the bed, allowing Gabriel to turn a leg around his body. He enjoys the look, familiar with the view, and when he drops himself, Jack doesn’t have time to get it together. Gabriel takes him on his mouth, making Jack howl in pleasure. He let his teeth barely touch the length as he pulls out, not enough to hurt but to let Jack now he can bit if he wants. Jack pulses on his mouth as Gabriel takes him a second time, licking the length, sucking on the tip, his hands gently squeezing the balls. Gabriel attempts to milk him and Jack has to beg him to stop before he finishes.

“Inside of you.” Jack hisses, his hands pulling from Gabriel’s hair. “I want to--”

Gabriel lets him slip from his mouth, a thread of spit linking the tip and his lips. He smiles at Jack, giving him a reassuring look.

“Sure.” diggin his soles on the mattress, Gabriel rides him enthusiastically, impaling himself so fast it knocked out the breath of his lungs. He begins to move before catching his breath, asscheeks bouncing on his hips, panting heavily as Jack holds his hips.

Looking up to Gabriel, the way he moves, how his chest moves up and down, Jack can’t help to fall for him all over again. No matter how many years passed, no matter what they did to Gabriel, he was still the most beautiful thing he has ever seen. Every other person Jack had in bed paled in comparison, they all lacked something: they weren’t Gabriel. This was the body he was familiar with, the body he wanted to wake up to every morning. He regretted every other person he slept with after losing Gabriel. How could he? 

“Tell me--” Gabriel sputters, resting his hands on Jack’s chest as he bounces on his hard cock.

“Yes?”

“Tell me you’re mine.”

Jack gulps loudly, licking his lips before granting Gabriel’s wishes: “I’m yours, Gabriel.” he sits on the bed and takes his left nipple on his mouth, bites down and sucks hard, leaving a pink mark on his chest. “I’m yours, I’m yours, I’m only yours.” his hand caresses Gabriel’s face and it’s only then when he notices something wet on his cheek. “Gabe?” he meets his watery eyes and realizes too late there are real tears streaming down his cheeks. “Gabe! What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

Caught red handed, there is no point on denying it. Gabriel stops moving and rests a hand over Jack’s hand. “I’m not.”

“Then, what’s wrong?” Jack cups his head, visible concerned about his lover’s grief. “Tell me.”

The idea of poking Jack with questions seems irresistible, because Gabriel is sure Jack would never lie to him. If he did sleep with other people when he wasn’t in his life, he would admit it. He is curious and yet he doesn’t want to know the details. 

“Is this... okay?” Gabriel gives in, “Do you even feel good?”

Face contorted in pain, Jack speaks again, “Of course I feel good! I’ve always felt good with you, always.” he kisses him, stroking his back. “Where does this come from?” Jack remembered Gabriel has been nervous, but this was in a completely different level.

“I... looked at myself at the mirror.” 

The idea of his lover finding painful to even look at his own reflect broke his heart. Jack purses his lips, tilts his head to the side and caresses Gabriel’s cheek. For a moment he completely forgot what happened and he can’t help to feel a little guilty about it. The one who suffered the most has been definitely Gabriel. He has always been the prideful type and having to deal with this sickness definitely affected him.

“I’ll find a cure.” Jack promises, “That’s why we are here, remember”

“Thought you wanted a second honeymoon.” Gabriel manages to joke, light-heart laugh and everything. 

“Well, that too. I really needed to be with you for a moment at least and… going back to what we were.” Jack hugs him, nosing his neck. “I’m sorry, I’m being selfish here.”

Gabriel shakes his head. “You’re not, I also wanted this.” 

“We will find the person who did this to you.” Jack reminds him, cupping his face, “That doctor, she might have a way to cure you of whatever you got now. Maybe she can undone what she has done. We need to ask at least.”

“And what if she doesn’t.” Gabriel questions, looking sincerely scared, touching his own face. “What if I stay like this forever?”

“Didn’t I tell you already?” Jack lays back on the bed, bringing Gabriel with him. “I want you forever. So I’ll stay forever with you no matter what.”

This time there aren’t tears involved, Gabriel slowly realizing maybe Jack did love him that much after all these years.

They finish coupling and then go back to bed before leaving the room as the sun rise in the beautiful city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this story. I apologize for any mistake and they will be fixed!
> 
> Check [Petitecreme's art!](https://petitecreme.tumblr.com/tagged/Neonwatch-AU), most of this fic was inspired on her work!


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